I went to the National Maritime Museum yesterday to see the "images of empire" as recommended by a lecturer in class.
The museum itself was relatively dull (well, for me) but the exhibit on empire was certainly very interesting. There were anti-colonialist video, stories of moving from the empire to Britain, images of events in imperial history (like the treaty of nanking) amongst other things.
It wasn't too critical of empire... but maybe I'm just biased. Nothing ever seems critical enough for me. But I suppose that's to keep people coming to the exhibits and not offended.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
I was reading in the Metro today that they had published an article in which the headline used the word "Chinaman". This wasn't part of a retraction, but rather an obscure letter to the editor. Oy...
Also were multiple letters about how present-day Britons shouldn't feel remorse over the slavery their ancestors imposed. Another writer noted that there were European slaves in Northern Africa in the 16th-19th centuries, the same time the British were practicing slavery (as though that makes it all right).
And yet another series of letters condemning prejudice and (what is essentially) racism against red-haired people ("gingers") in Britain.
Things get weirder and weirder...
Also were multiple letters about how present-day Britons shouldn't feel remorse over the slavery their ancestors imposed. Another writer noted that there were European slaves in Northern Africa in the 16th-19th centuries, the same time the British were practicing slavery (as though that makes it all right).
And yet another series of letters condemning prejudice and (what is essentially) racism against red-haired people ("gingers") in Britain.
Things get weirder and weirder...
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Southampton Row
We live in a pretty interesting neighborhood, even if it's somewhat lacking in... eh, real people.
That's the building we live in, on the 5th floor (the 6th for you Americans). Most of the building is an office building but for our top floor and below, in Sicilian Avenue (funny name) are some small shops -- a Lebanese restaurant, a few tailors, a florist, etc etc.
Our neighborhood is right smack in the middle of Holborn, in Camden Borough. We're one block away from the Holborn Underground station and two blocks from the British Museum (as I write this I can see its flag) and right next to Bloomsbury Square. And across the street, interestingly enough, is the famous Central St. Martin's School of Art and Design.
It's interesting how my perception of this area has changed over time. When I first got here, I didn't notice much racial diversity, or rather, much integration. Our neighborhood, it seems, is inhabited mostly by daily office-workers, predominantly white. The next larger ethnic group I can see are Asians (and I mean East Asians, as in Britiain, East Asians are "Orientals" and South Asians are "Asian).
What I first thought when I got here was that it seemed like East Asian people were associating only with East Asian people. It also seemed like almost all the people in our neighborhood were in their early-to-late 20s, some in their early 30s.
As I've been here longer I've noticed more and more, though, that there is more ethnic mixing. While white people seem to still be with other white people predominantly, there are certainly quite a number of East Asian people hanging out with white people. And, just like in the states, when you see a mixed-race couple, it's usually a white male with an East Asian female.
It might just be that we live across the street from Central St. Martin's that there is such a young crowd, and that we live in an area with more office space than residential space that produces a big lack of diversity in age and ethnicity. Still, it's nice to get away to other parts of the city where there are real families! Happy here, though.
That's the building we live in, on the 5th floor (the 6th for you Americans). Most of the building is an office building but for our top floor and below, in Sicilian Avenue (funny name) are some small shops -- a Lebanese restaurant, a few tailors, a florist, etc etc.
Our neighborhood is right smack in the middle of Holborn, in Camden Borough. We're one block away from the Holborn Underground station and two blocks from the British Museum (as I write this I can see its flag) and right next to Bloomsbury Square. And across the street, interestingly enough, is the famous Central St. Martin's School of Art and Design.
It's interesting how my perception of this area has changed over time. When I first got here, I didn't notice much racial diversity, or rather, much integration. Our neighborhood, it seems, is inhabited mostly by daily office-workers, predominantly white. The next larger ethnic group I can see are Asians (and I mean East Asians, as in Britiain, East Asians are "Orientals" and South Asians are "Asian).
What I first thought when I got here was that it seemed like East Asian people were associating only with East Asian people. It also seemed like almost all the people in our neighborhood were in their early-to-late 20s, some in their early 30s.
As I've been here longer I've noticed more and more, though, that there is more ethnic mixing. While white people seem to still be with other white people predominantly, there are certainly quite a number of East Asian people hanging out with white people. And, just like in the states, when you see a mixed-race couple, it's usually a white male with an East Asian female.
It might just be that we live across the street from Central St. Martin's that there is such a young crowd, and that we live in an area with more office space than residential space that produces a big lack of diversity in age and ethnicity. Still, it's nice to get away to other parts of the city where there are real families! Happy here, though.
Chinatown, London, 2007
A few weeks ago I attended London's (newly) annual Chinese New Year celebration, which is part of a larger cultural exchange program between London and Shanghai called "China in London." From the information given me, London is actually supposed to have the largest Chinese population outside of China, and the New Year celebration is supposed to be the largest one outside of China.
Let's just say that it was disappointing.
It's not that I don't enjoy lion dances and parades in general. But my time in London -- and this blog, which is essentially serving to be a repository for my field journal notes -- is meant to turn a critical eye towards events and phenomena around me. London's New Year was certainly a field day for a critical sociologist! (Or anthropologist, or folklorist ;) )
Firstly, the parade opened with some shouts from the town crier. Now, I realize that this is a tradition in London, but still -- the cultural and symbolic significance of this is, I think, pretty obvious.
The real start of the parade opened.
The next group seems to... be predominantly white. OK, I suppose that's OK...
I include these girls because in the press coverage in the following days they were featured almost exclusively in the photographs. The BBC, The Guardian... I feel like this group of people represent something (though I don't know what) and interestingly enough in the press coverage where they were so predominantly featured, there wasn't any real explanation of who they were. For that matter, there was no explanation of who anyone in the parade was supposed to be. Rather, they were presented, I reckon, as more exoticized than anything else. What is important is not their cultural significance within the realm of the parade, but rather that their garb is different -- i.e., "Oriental." Oh Edward Said, where are you when I need you.
I guess it was at this point that I thought things started to get weird. Though there were a few predominantly-Chinese performances between the last photo and this one, from this point onward, for maybe five acts, all the troupes were either all-white, or perhaps had one or two Chinese members.
Now, I don't necessarily believe that POC performance spaces must be all POC. I remember last year there was a big controversy over Colors of Rythm because a white student, as part of a hip-hop troupe, was going to perform but didn't identify as Black or POC. I was pretty upset that she wasn't allowed to perform, especially after an organizer told me that "allyship is not something you declare, it's something you earn over time." Well, that girl had earned the trust of her fellow performers, who were predominantly Black, and what it really boiled down to was that she wasn't allowed in the performance because she was white. Whatever happened to the all-mighty dialogue?
Anyway, I think that it's fine that people are interested in and want to participate in Chinese culture. My real issue with the New Year parade was that some of the groups were all white. I.e., there really was nobody to invite them to perform alongside. When a group of white people decide that they'd like to participate in another cultural form without the invitation of the community, or rather without members of that community alongside them participating, then I think it comes periously close to Orientalist appropriation.
Now, I might be a little heavy-handed, admittedly. It might be that these people were invited by a local Chinese cultural organization. It might be that East Asian people in Britain are glad for the participation, a sign (maybe) of acceptance. But even if that were the case, what's the deal with the fact that they were apparently representing "China in London" during this New Year parade?
I guess, knowing at least a little something about British Imperialism in China during the 19th and 20th centuries, it sits even less comfortably with me than had I seen the same thing in, say, Mexico.
Let's just say that it was disappointing.
It's not that I don't enjoy lion dances and parades in general. But my time in London -- and this blog, which is essentially serving to be a repository for my field journal notes -- is meant to turn a critical eye towards events and phenomena around me. London's New Year was certainly a field day for a critical sociologist! (Or anthropologist, or folklorist ;) )
Firstly, the parade opened with some shouts from the town crier. Now, I realize that this is a tradition in London, but still -- the cultural and symbolic significance of this is, I think, pretty obvious.
The real start of the parade opened.
The next group seems to... be predominantly white. OK, I suppose that's OK...
I include these girls because in the press coverage in the following days they were featured almost exclusively in the photographs. The BBC, The Guardian... I feel like this group of people represent something (though I don't know what) and interestingly enough in the press coverage where they were so predominantly featured, there wasn't any real explanation of who they were. For that matter, there was no explanation of who anyone in the parade was supposed to be. Rather, they were presented, I reckon, as more exoticized than anything else. What is important is not their cultural significance within the realm of the parade, but rather that their garb is different -- i.e., "Oriental." Oh Edward Said, where are you when I need you.
I guess it was at this point that I thought things started to get weird. Though there were a few predominantly-Chinese performances between the last photo and this one, from this point onward, for maybe five acts, all the troupes were either all-white, or perhaps had one or two Chinese members.
Now, I don't necessarily believe that POC performance spaces must be all POC. I remember last year there was a big controversy over Colors of Rythm because a white student, as part of a hip-hop troupe, was going to perform but didn't identify as Black or POC. I was pretty upset that she wasn't allowed to perform, especially after an organizer told me that "allyship is not something you declare, it's something you earn over time." Well, that girl had earned the trust of her fellow performers, who were predominantly Black, and what it really boiled down to was that she wasn't allowed in the performance because she was white. Whatever happened to the all-mighty dialogue?
Anyway, I think that it's fine that people are interested in and want to participate in Chinese culture. My real issue with the New Year parade was that some of the groups were all white. I.e., there really was nobody to invite them to perform alongside. When a group of white people decide that they'd like to participate in another cultural form without the invitation of the community, or rather without members of that community alongside them participating, then I think it comes periously close to Orientalist appropriation.
Now, I might be a little heavy-handed, admittedly. It might be that these people were invited by a local Chinese cultural organization. It might be that East Asian people in Britain are glad for the participation, a sign (maybe) of acceptance. But even if that were the case, what's the deal with the fact that they were apparently representing "China in London" during this New Year parade?
I guess, knowing at least a little something about British Imperialism in China during the 19th and 20th centuries, it sits even less comfortably with me than had I seen the same thing in, say, Mexico.
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